The Retro Engine is a

multiplatform In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software r ...

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...

developed by Australian programmer

Christian Whitehead Christian Whitehead, also known by his alias The Taxman, is an Australian video game programmer and designer. He is most recognized for his work creating updated ports of early games in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, as well as being th ...

, best known for its use in

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

's ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

'' series.

Overview

Unlike most modern game engines, the Retro Engine is primarily tailored for creating

two-dimensional In mathematics, a plane is a Euclidean (flat), two-dimensional surface that extends indefinitely. A plane is the two-dimensional analogue of a point (zero dimensions), a line (one dimension) and three-dimensional space. Planes can arise as s ...

games like those released for 32-bit or below-era consoles, such as the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

or the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

. For this reason, the engine focuses more on

raster graphics upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

and palette manipulation, although it does feature support for

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

graphics and online functionality.

History

Australian programmer

created the Retro Engine for use with a 2007

fangame A fangame is a video game that is created by fans. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fangames attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but ...

entitled ''Retro Sonic'', which is based upon the original ''Sonic'' games released for the

. The game became notable after its release for its accuracy to the games, despite not being a

ROM hack ROM hacking is the process of modifying a ROM image or ROM file of a video game to alter the game's graphics, dialogue, levels, gameplay, and/or other elements. This is usually done by technically inclined video game fans to improve an old game ...

modification Modification may refer to: * Modifications of school work for students with special educational needs * Modifications (genetics), changes in appearance arising from changes in the environment * Posttranslational modifications, changes to prote ...

to an existing ''Sonic'' game. ''Retro Sonic'' later merged with two other ''Sonic'' fangames, ''Sonic XG'' and ''Sonic Nexus'', to form ''Retro Sonic Nexus''. In 2009,

asked fans for ideas on a game to port to

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

. As a response, Whitehead produced a proof-of-concept video showing Sega's 1993

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...

game ''

Sonic CD is a 1993 platform game for the Sega CD developed and published by Sega. The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog as he attempts to save an extraterrestrial body, Little Planet, from Doctor Robotnik. Like other '' Sonic'' games, Sonic runs and ...

'' running on an iPhone. Sega later officially released the port in 2011 for various platforms, such as the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, iOS and Android. Whitehead, along with fellow ''Sonic'' scene member Simon "Stealth" Thomley, were later commissioned to create

remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

of ''

'' and ''

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Eggman from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space stationnamed T ...

'' using the engine, released for mobile platforms in 2013. In 2014, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the release of ''

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. Like previous '' Sonic'' games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. They control Sonic and Tails, who attempt to retr ...

'', Whitehead and Thomley produced a proof-of-concept showing the game using the engine on an iPhone. Despite fan support, Sega did not approve of the project. Thomley speculated that this was due to legal problems regarding the music. In 2015, Whitehead, Thomley's studio Headcannon, and PagodaWest Games collaborated on an original ''Sonic'' game using the Retro Engine titled ''

Sonic Mania ''Sonic Mania'' is a 2017 platform game published by Sega for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. Produced in commemoration of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series' 25th anniversary, ''Sonic Mania'' pays homage to the original S ...

'', which released August 2017, with DLC titled ''Sonic Mania Plus'' being released in July 2018. In 2019, Whitehead, in collaboration with other members behind ''Sonic Mania'', founded a new video game studio name
''Evening Star''
In reference to the studio name, the Retro Engine initially had been renamed the Star Engine. In October 2021, Evening Star announced development was underway for a game using the Star Engine. In conjunction with this, it was announced that the Star Engine had been turned into a separate engine with a focus on 3D rendering, with the Retro Engine remaining as their 2D game engine. In January 2021, an

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

decompilation of the Retro Engine versions of ''Sonic CD'', ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', and ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' were released, allowing the latter two games to be run natively on PC platforms. The Retro Engine was also used for the compilation ''

Sonic Origins is a 2022 '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game compilation by Sega. It features remasters of the first four platform games in the ''Sonic'' series originally released for the Sega Genesis and the Sega CD; '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1991), ''Sonic ...

'' in 2022, which includes remakes of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'', ''Sonic CD'', and ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles''.

Games

Reception

Reviewers praised the Retro Engine for its performance, which has been called superior to simply

emulating In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use peri ...

the original games.

TouchArcade ''TouchArcade'' is a mobile video game website that launched in 2008. Arnold Kim of ''MacRumors'' worked on the site and its editor-in-chief was Eli Hodapp from 2009 to 2019. ''TouchArcade'' has been recognized as one of the best mobile game ...

has referred to the remasters of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' and ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' as "spectacular". Whitehead has named games such as ''

Ristar ''Ristar'' is a 1995 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. The game stars an anthropomorphic cartoon star who uses his hands and long, stretchable arms to both move and fight enemies. Reception for the game was gen ...

'', '' Knuckles' Chaotix'', and ''

Dynamite Headdy ''Dynamite Headdy'' is a platform video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1994. The game follows a puppet named Headdy in his efforts to stop an evil puppet king from taking over his world. Headdy can throw ...

'', as well as non-Sega games like the ''

Castlevania ''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...

'' series, as others that would be possible to port to the engine.

References

External links

* {{Video game engines 2008 software Proprietary software Video game engines